The playoffs have gotten off to a hell of a start. We've got to thank the underdogs for that. The Spurs, Nets, and the Magic were all lower seeds that managed to cop wins on the road in Games 1 or 2 over the favored giants. That right there is my favorite kind of playoff basketball. An old coach's adage is, "The series doesn't begin until the road team wins".
Tonight that wasn't the case though. Talent won out at the end of the day in Sixers vs. Nets in Brooklyn. This was a HUGE opportunity for the Nets to come out and grab a 2-1 lead over the shaky Sixers who didn't even have Embiid tonight! Win tonight, and you still have one more game to play at home. You could've gone up 3-1 on the star-packed Sixers. Instead, Ben Simmons summoned the dismay of all his haters and went full Goku in a 31 point, 4 board, 9 assist, 2 steal, 3 block effort on 11/13 FG, 9/11 FT. That's a hell of a performance from the young Australian. I think we can safely say this is the greatest playoff game of his young career given everything at stake and who was out. Check out the Rhythm of the Game to see how this unfolded and Takeaways for afterthoughts.
Rhythm Of The Game
Minutes before the tipoff, it was announced that Joel Embiid would sit out this make-or-break Game 3. He's the one guy who the Nets have absolutely no answer for, be he'd been playing on a bum leg so Philly rolled the dice on their other guys.
Well I thought to myself the Sixers still have Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, and a host of terrific role players. But a lingering feeling still persisted...why did I feel like the Nets were still going to wash them? This same team plus a hobbled Embiid did lose in Game 1 handily. People on Philly were going to have to step up and figure things out on the fly to stay competitive against the hungry Nets. That crowd, chemistry, and the fact that this was Brooklyn's first home playoff game in 5 years were powerful forces going against them.
Halfway through the first, Ben Simmons started to prove me wrong. He was being incredibly aggressive at both ends, muscling his way into the paint like a big man who had no business being that fast, while playing some nice, attentive defense. After trailing from the outset, Philly recaptured the lead 18-17, and before we knew it the Sixers were on a 19-5 run in the waning minutes of the first. It started feeling like Brooklyn's sloppy turnovers and poor shooting was squandering a prime opportunity to go up 2-1 on the Sixers. Despite no Joel, Philly walked into the second with a 32-24 lead.
It didn't take long for the Nets to tie this one up, thanks in large part to a man named Caris LeVert! His three's got the Nets back in this ballgame, tying it up at 38-all. Tobias Harris picked up the slack on the offensive end to gain a slight advantage over the young Nets. Brooklyn did a great job of staying in it then rallying at the end, but when the first half came to the close it was Philly who stood tall, 65-59.
This one felt way up in the air, but ultimately, it was Brooklyn's game to lose. The third was an opportunity for the Nets to come out with some momentum, but the Sixers just killed them from deep! They were hitting three after three after three to go up by a whole sixteen on the befuddled home team, 85-69. They were straight up playing how Brooklyn should've been.
We were midway through the third, there was still time for a Nets comeback but the state of their offense had a man doubting its likeliness. I kept waiting for the Brooklyn rally, but I realized the Sixers were just playing like they should be given their talent advantage over the Nets. Things felt like they were about to devolve into a full-fledged Philly bucketfest, but the Nets mounted a last-second third quarter rally to cut it to seven, 97-90. Double techs were swiftly slipped in the direction of a fired up Ben Simmons and Rondae Hollis Jefferson. We still had a game on our hands!
Fourth quarter time. D'Angelo Russell came blazing out the gate to the tune of nine straight points to cut it to six. With about seven minutes left to play, Boban Marjanovic, Philly's only true big man fouled out! This was going to dramatically shape the game, because Brooklyn could go small more often with Jared Dudley at center lineups. That was the group that killed the Sixers in Game 1.
Still, Philly stayed holding the 14-15 point lead. Every opportunity was there for the Nets to break out, but the Sixers stifled them at the outset. The more talented side was gearing up to win this one. The big difference in tonight and Game 1 was the clear as day sense of urgency, particularly in Ben Simmons. They were using more as a screener tonight which worked to impressive results.
Brooklyn tried rolling out a "Hack-A-Ben" strategy to regain possession quickly with Nets were down fifteen, three minutes to play. They could still come back with a few timely threes, but they were just standing around like this was a blowout! I was surprised at how nonchalant they looked in a pivotal playoff game. It didn't matter anymore. This was the Sixers night. Philly gets the huge Game 3 win 131-115 behind the excellence of Ben Simmons.
Takeaways
The biggest factors in this victory were Ben Simmons' excellence (31-4-9-2-3, 11/13 FG, 9/11 FT), the three-ball (11/27, 40% from three), and a hunger to win that was absent in Game 1. Tobias Harris (29-16-3-1) and JJ Redick (26-0-2, 5/9 from three) were major players tonight as well, though they didn't carry the flash that Ben did. I'm honestly surprised by Ben's big night on the scoreboard and in the eye test.
He was used a lot more as a screener around the three-point line in this game compared to the first two. This is something that a lot of Philly fans and writers have been clamoring for Brett Brown to do with Simmons. He would feint an attack towards the rim and set a quick pick for the Philly roller and then Ben would regain possession deeper into the paint. From there, he'd pull a little bit of Nikola Jokic/Draymond Green action where he'd penetrate then look for an open teammate close to the basket to finisht the play. It looked like a great sequence tonight, so expect more of that in the coming games.
Dude looked like an absolute monster whose only goal was playoff excellence. With Embiid out, I thought he was going to fold under the Brooklyn lights of Game 3. He proved me and all his other doubters wrong. This was a coming out game for him. A big-time performance in a potentially series-deciding game. Come out soft and Brooklyn was looking at an astronomical advantage, up 2-1 with the next game lined up to be played on their own floor. Kudos to Ben for coming out firing
Philly's big men also came to play in the absence of Embiid. Boban fouled out with substantial time to play, but his rebounding and close-to-the-basket game were on point tonight. He had 14 & 8 and was a +18 for the invigorated Sixers. big props to him as well for admirable contributions in a hostile arena. You can't count on Boban for big minutes game-to-game because of stamina reasons, but tonight was a form of vindication for his midseason acquisition.
One player I've been disappointed in is D'Angelo Russell. He has been firing away in this series, but he hasn't managed to have an effective game even in their wins. In the Game 1 upset he was so-so, but the victory was due to his other teammates stepping up big. Russell had a nice stat line tonight of 26 points 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals on 12/26 shooting, but I just wanted more from him particularly in the playmaking department. He
There are still two games left until the victor of the series is crowned, but this Philly victory and Ben Simmons dominance took a lot of air out of the series. I feel like Ben is just going to come out guns blazing in Game 4 and take the commanding 3-1 lead. Jimmy Butler will likely outperform his 16-point effort tonight, leaving Brooklyn with their hands full defending him. Let's hope the Nets come out and make this an entertaining affair in Game 4!
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